The Gracefield incident. No comment. Well, maybe...
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah!!!!!!!!!!! I had a good laugh!
Annihilation on Neflix.
This is the second film Alex Garland's written and directed I believe. It's not quite on par with Ex Machina, but it's a damn fine sci-fi movie regardless. And just like Ex Machina, it's also one hell of an unsettling one at times. There's some right ol' Cronenbergian nastiness in to be found in this thing. The primary reasons why it's not quite Ex Machina are probably the performances. They are all quite good. Surpringly good in some cases (I'm usually not too convinced of Natalie Portman's acting prowess, but she's fine in Annihilation) They just aren't Oscar Isaac / Bradon Gleeson / Alicia Vikander good.
Watched Black Panther yesterday. Was gonna type up my impressions then, but was too disorganised and then I got tired and went to bed...
I liked the actors, they felt very genuine and believable. Especially Lupita Nyong'o, whom was amazing. I've only 'seen' her in the two recent Star Wars previously, but as she's a CG character there in that one... Well, it was good seeing her acting for real this time.
Movie itself was pretty good, but a few things pulled it down somewhat IMO; one, even though it's the character's second outing, this movie is essentially an origin story, so there has to be time spent on exposition, explaining who Black Panther is, what vibranium is, what those purple flowers are and what they do, what wakanda is, introduce characters, the royal family and so on. It makes the movie slow and talky at times, and for an action movie that can be problematic. It's nothing unique to this movie though, basically all origin story movies have this issue, and it's probably handled pretty as well as it could be really without sacrificing accuracy or depth to the character and its world. The next movie won't be burdened with quite so much talk, it can stand on the first movie's shoulders and act with less restrictions.
Also, the second thing that bothers me a bit is that this is a civil war story (which surprised me considering we'd had a civil war Marvel movie already - which with this one in mind should really have been undertitled, "a few superheroes pound on each other; everybody walks away essentially unscathed.") Black Panther is a REAL civil war story. It shows people dying and stuff, it shows strife; a nation breaking apart, and stuff like that bothers me these days. Movies about killing aliens for example... Fine. Everybody knows aliens are no-good bastards that just want to wreck our stuff and steal our women, right? But people killing people... I dunno about you, but I kinda feel we have enough of that in the real world, we don't need to make quite so many movies about it. It gets to me, it bothers me and makes me sad.
But this is a personal hangup of mine, it's not really a fault of the movie's. Oh, and while there's a few moments where the music stands out, overall the score lacks flair and depth, like with most Marvel movies. I don't know why directors are so afraid these days to go big, with thunderously bombastic Klaus Badeldt or Hans Zimmer-style soundtracks. It can bring so much to a movie. What would Star Wars be without its rich musical score?! Still enjoyable I should think, but damn, no imperial march?! I don't wanna live in such a world...
I also feel, did the badguy HAVE to die? Really? Can't a person be redeemed? Badguys dying at the end of the movie is such a tired old Merican/Hollywood trope. He doesn't even die in combat, he just dies, watching a sunset. It feels like, they built this tragic character, and then he didn't get room to grow and develop; he is just this angry guy who goes on a murder-rampage, and then he dies. For me, it wasn't fulfilling, it feels flat, like a missed opportunity. This Killdozer guy and T'Challa, they're like, cousins, right? Family.
Shouldn't that mean something?
I guess the movie makers wanted to make a point with the story of the movie that civil wars are typically the ugliest of conflicts,and so are family conflicts as well, but can't we also show that it is possible to mend the wounds afterwards? ...*sigh* Oh well.
I'd say overall score like, 7.5/10 or thereabouts. Well worth watching, but still with room for some improvement.
I also feel, did the badguy HAVE to die? Really? Can't a person be redeemed? Badguys dying at the end of the movie is such a tired old Merican/Hollywood trope. He doesn't even die in combat, he just dies, watching a sunset. It feels like, they built this tragic character, and then he didn't get room to grow and develop; he is just this angry guy who goes on a murder-rampage, and then he dies. For me, it wasn't fulfilling, it feels flat, like a missed opportunity. This Killdozer guy and T'Challa, they're like, cousins, right? Family.
Shouldn't that mean something?
I guess the movie makers wanted to make a point with the story of the movie that civil wars are typically the ugliest of conflicts,and so are family conflicts as well, but can't we also show that it is possible to mend the wounds afterwards? ...*sigh* Oh well.
I believe that if this was real life, even if he did not die by the end, he would kill himself at some point. He went too far to the deep end of vengeance and killed quite a few people, directly and indirectly, with nothing to show for it. He achieved nothing. Someone with such a drive and thirst for vengeance could never live with himself again. It was better this way IMO.
Annihilation on Neflix.
This is the second film Alex Garland's written and directed I believe. It's not quite on par with Ex Machina, but it's a damn fine sci-fi movie regardless. And just like Ex Machina, it's also one hell of an unsettling one at times. There's some right ol' Cronenbergian nastiness in to be found in this thing. The primary reasons why it's not quite Ex Machina are probably the performances. They are all quite good. Surpringly good in some cases (I'm usually not too convinced of Natalie Portman's acting prowess, but she's fine in Annihilation) They just aren't Oscar Isaac / Bradon Gleeson / Alicia Vikander good.
What the hell happened there. Duncan Jones's first film Moon was terrific, and Source Code was a pretty damn good follow-up as far as I'm concerned. I can see why people wouldn't enjoy the Warcraft movie, but that one felt like a case of indie director at the helm of a 200 million dollars production and a laundry list of studio-mandated restrictions. I enjoyed it for what it was actually, and as someone who's only ever played WC2 on the PSone way back in the day, I can say my level of personal attachement to the brand is pretty much zero.
Mute is his newest movie, and it went straight to Netflix this time. Doesn't have to mean anything of course. Might actually be a sign of too-much-substance-for-theaters if Annihilation is any indication. Not with Mute unfortunately. It's not just bad. It's full on terrible. It certainly has a bunch of ideas, but it does absolutely nothing with then. Ever. The titular character is - you guessed it - a mute. His name is Leo, and as a kid he had an accident. His Amish parents refused the necessary medical treatment, ultimately resulting in his disability. The story is set in a Blade Runner-esque version of city of Berlin. It doesn't feel as real as the LA in Blade Runner 2049, though. It's not as flashy as the city scape in Ghost in the Shell either. It's all a bit fake looking despite some pretty impressive sets and special effects. Just like the main character's disability, the dystopian, futuristic setting is also completely inconsequential to the story. The story basically goes like this: Our mute protagonist's girlfriend goes missing. He then embarks on a quest to go and find her. Because he cannot talk, he points at pictures instead. You'd also think it would be an easy thing to mine the dilemma of an Amish guy living in a dystopian, tech-riddled metropolis for various insights, but the film never does anything with that premise either. Leo's story would have worked fine today or even a hundred years ago no matter if he was mute or not. There's another parallel plotline happening as well: Cactus (Paul Rudd. Also the only good thing in this movie) and his brother are two shifty medics. The brother is also a pedofile for some reason. I guess it's an easy way to generate hatred for a character. Everyone is one-note in this thing. The main character is a mute and perpetually sad. Paul Rudd is a mad asshole who loves his daughter, his brother likes kids a little too much, and the poor girlfriend has shiny blue hair (or was it green hair?). Eventually the two plot lines meet. Generally nothing really happens in this film, though. It's incredibly boring and the writing's just stupid.
Had a little movie night in Bangkok, went to see Pacific Rim 2 and Tomb Raider.
Pacific Rim 2 had really good action scenes and John Boyega does good job here. The rest of the cast were quite mediocre or even worse and the story elements were far weaker than in the first one. The action does carry it pretty well though. 3/5.
Tomb Raider was little bit better than I expected. Lot's of the same elements as in the 2013 Tomb Raider game, but simplified and changed to quite a degree. Story was ok and the action was quite good and viceral and dare I say even more realistic than what you typically see in movies like these. As a video game movie It's quite solid. I give it 3.5/5.
First time I watched ST:B, it was an evening where I had a few drinks and ended up sleeping through the last 30 minutes or so. The second time I watched it, I was sober, but ended up spending much of the time browsing the internet on my laptop and only half-watched.
I'd normally be a sucker for a reasonable SF film but the fact that I couldn't generate the attention span to watch it closely on two occasions probably tells you all you need to know about how 'gripping' I found it! Lots of action, lots of special effects, not a great deal of excitement.
I watched it all the way through the first time I saw it, just after I'd bought it on blu-ray. 2nd time, my willpower petered out around the bike chase sequence and I never got around to finishing it.
I think it's the best of the post-reboot Treks. By quite a large margin actually. Sure it's flashy and loud as hell, but unlike the JJ Abrams directed Treks, Beyond actually felt like a Star Trek movie. It's colorful and it's optimistic. We also finally got a Kirk who felt like a proper character and not just a quick, poorly done William Shatner (his Kirk was way more than a womanizing hot head. In fact he could barely be called a hot head at all) caricature. The McCoy-Spock show (karl Urban is so fucking spot-on) was simply delightful as well. I was also really impressed by the way the director handled that "musical" ending. I usually hate when movies do stuff like that, but Justin Lin made it work.
ST Beyond was probably one of my favorite summer blockbusters in ages in terms of the sheer amount of enjoyment I got out of the thing. It's up there with Jurassic World and Fury Road.
I think it's the best of the post-reboot Treks. By quite a large margin actually. Sure it's flashy and loud as hell, but unlike the JJ Abrams directed Treks, Beyond actually felt like a Star Trek movie.
I couldn't disagree more... I finally finished it some minutes ago, after five sessions. Each time I fell asleep. No movie ever has been more effective anaesthetic for me. I don't get it - somehow my brain refuses to process this movie.
There is simply no sense at all in it, and even less Star Trek. Each time the cast tried to make an impersonation of their assigned characters, it felt like watching your grandmother doing a lap dance.
Although it was made by Pixar, it really felt like a Disney animation movie. It's all very pretty looking, but it's also surprisingly superficial, utterly predictable and shallow as a puddle.
Fluffy effects showreel which basically relies on viewers going "this is so great because I've seen that before!" every 5 seconds or so. References range all the way from stuff everyone should be familiar with to some truly bizarre stuff you might have come across in a Stewart Ashen video on youtube. It's mostly devoid of any tension due to the bad guys' comical ineptitude. The main villain is about as threatening as Scrooge McDuck. I also find the whole premise slightly hard to believe. Realisitcally, this 5+ years scavenger hunt from the film would have been solved in a matter of hours by the combined autistic might of today's internet dwellers. Should have gone even quicker in a dystopian future where literally everyone spends 80% of their waking hours in a virtual world. It's all served with a generous helping of Spielbergian schmaltz of course. There's one really cool sequence which I don't wanna spoil, but aside from this singular spark of brilliance, even the action scenes were a hot mess.
I finally watched Wonder Woman some time ago. Pleasant surprise. More enjoyable origin story than any Marvel counterpart I've seen. Not really expecting to see Justice League any time soon though.
And only 5 years passed until I got to see Elysium.
Most people seem to consider it a huge disappointment. It's not a triumph of storytelling, but it didn't bore me at all. It had certain freshness in it, and the production design was just awesome.
The Matt Damon movie? Was pretty good I thought. Just didn't quite live up to District 9 standards. Wasn't until Chappie that things spectacularly imploded for Neill Blomcamp.
